After being out of the spotlight for several years, an iconic San Antonio piece of art is back on display for the public — just in a new home.
The 23-foot-tall, 14,000-pound bright-yellow sculpture known as the Flor de Esperanza — Spanish for “Flower of Hope” — was on display for years on the campus of University Hospital in northwest San Antonio. The piece was moved in 2019 when construction started on University Health’s Women’s & Children’s Hospital, and had been stored on private property since then.
Gabriel Ybarra keeps an eye on the rigging for the Flor de Esperanza sculpture as it was moved to its new home on the campus of University Health’s Palo Alto Hospital on Saturday.
Robin Jerstad/For the Express-News
Luis Torres and Carl Wentrcek of Howell Crane discuss moving the Flor de Esperanza sculpture on Saturday.
Robin Jerstad/For the Express-News
Mario Arizola and Gabriel Ybarra prepares the base of the Flor de Esperanza sculpture at its new home on the campus of University Health’s Palo Alto Hospital.
Robin Jerstad/For the Express-News
Crew members lower the Flor de Esperanza sculpture into place on Saturday.
Robin Jerstad/For the Express-News
Simon and Autumn Saleh work to weld the Flor de Esperanza sculpture onto its base.
Robin Jerstad/For the Express-News
Crew members work to place the Flor de Esperanza sculpture on the campus of University Health’s Palo Alto Hospital.
Robin Jerstad/For the Express-News
Over the weekend, crews moved the artwork to its new home, the campus of University Health’s Palo Alto Hospital, which is under construction on the South Side.
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The sculpture is the work of acclaimed Mexican artist Sebastián, who was commissioned by University Health more than 12 years ago to create the piece of art. Sebastián is also known for the famed La Antorcha de la Amistad (The Torch of Friendship) sculpture in downtown San Antonio.
To make the Flor de Esperanza move happen, an eclectic group of people — construction crew members, art curators and communication officers — strapped on white hard hats and neon yellow safety vests Saturday morning as they awaited the artwork’s arrival.
The trip began at dawn, when a driver steered the trailer holding the sculpture from a site north of San Antonio International Airport onto U.S. 281. Passing drivers honked and gave thumbs up as the truck slowly rolled south. The sun was high in the sky when the big rig turned on to Jaguar Parkway toward the statue’s new home.
A 135-ton crane hoisted the statue to a plinth, where workers anchored it to the concrete surface. Allison Hays Lane, executive curator of University Health’s SaludArte program, said the yellow sculpture would serve as a “vibrant beacon” for the South Side. Workers also installed a second, smaller Sebastián sculpture, Espacio Tiempo (Space Time), in a garden on the hospital campus.
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“We want every door, university clinic and hospital to have that welcoming feeling,” Hays Lane said. “Art does heal and gives us that little bit of hope.”
Hays Lane said said SaludArte supports University Health’s mission of whole-person care through spaces adorned with paintings, photography, sculptures and site-specific commissions. She said research shows that thoughtful, designed health care can have a positive effect on a patient’s experience. She said the team also wanted to integrate art into the hospitals that reflected the community.
“I was so proud to work with this team,” Hays Lane said, “the board of managers, leadership, doctors, nurses and everyday staff to build our program from the ground up. It has become a design standard for us.”
Before the move, Flor de Esperanza had been stationed for several years at Wanderlust Ironworks, near Blossom Athletic Center, where it had been restored.
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Wanderlust Ironworks owners Autumn and Simon Saleh, themselves sculptors, placed the Esperanza where they’d always see it — their front yard.
Workers adjust and set the Flor de Esperanza sculpture into place on Saturday morning. Clockwise from top left are Gabriel Ybarra, Simon Saleh and Stephen Garcia.
Robin Jerstad/For the San Antonio Express-News
“We enjoy getting to meet all the artists, get to know them and their stories,” Autumn Saleh said. “It inspires our own art. We get to get that knowledge.”
Archivist and art program manager Raquel Belden said it was an honor to see the Esperanza installed on the South Side where she grew up.
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“This neighborhood has been historically underserved,” Belden said, “both in terms of medicine and art resources.”
For crew member Gabriel Ibarra, it was the second time he’d been involved in move the sculpture. He was part of the team that transported the giant statue from University Hospital to Wanderlust Ironworks several years ago.
Ibarra said the installation meant a lot to him. He was also born and raised on the South Side.
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“My daughter goes to school at Texas A&M University-San Antonio,” Ibarra said, as he pointed toward the nearby campus. “I told her, ‘When you pass by now and see the yellow statue, we put it up there.’ ”